


If By Chance

by KerriganUnfiltered



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Angst, F/M, Musicians, New York City, Slow Build, Unplanned Pregnancy, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2017-12-04 09:44:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KerriganUnfiltered/pseuds/KerriganUnfiltered
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I do not own  any of the Marvel characters contained herein, I am however responsible for the creation of original characters.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Odds Are

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters contained herein, I am however responsible for the creation of original characters.

Somehow she knew she would find him here, maybe because it was Sunday, more than likely it had to do with the fact that she had already gone by his apartment and found it empty, and her next guess was to find the nearest Catholic Church.  Irene shrugged it off and left it to chance, she hadn’t been to very many catholic masses, not since before her grandmother died.

At over six foot tall Steve wasn’t too hard to spot in the pews, so Irene slid into one of the back pews to wait out the end of the mass, which should be ending soon any how going through the motions of Catholicism. Any other day perhaps she would have actually paid attention, but today was different.

Today she was pregnant. And she had to tell Steve he was going to be a father.

Now mind you she had just found out this week, so Irene wasn’t so used to the idea yet herself. She had at least made an appointment with her OB/GYN. So that was one step in the right direction, and she was fiddling with her hands again, she always did that when she was nervous. She didn’t even know how pregnant she was for God’s sake! She felt so guilty. It was so unfair to this child to be saddled with a mother like her when there were women in the world that were ready to have a baby and desperately wanted to be in her condition but couldn’t conceive for various reasons.

Glanced up noticing that the service had just ended people rising from the pews and heading for the most part towards the exit, a few older ladies congregating to talk about what a great service it had been, the sight of them making Irene smile a little. They reminded her even more of her Catholic grandmother, as opposed to her Baptist grandmother of course.

This was going to be painful and awkward but for the sake of her unborn child it needed to be done. Fuck.

She sighed rising from the pew watching Steve wander up the aisle, the man seeming solemn as he did. She wondered vaguely if he would remember her, she certainly hoped he did.

Sliding out of her pew after Steve passed by and catching up with him “ Steve” she called after the other that was about a foot taller than she was, her fingers brushing his elbow as she caught up. The statuesque blond turning to find her clearly surprised to see her though a flush was fast to color his face a vibrant scarlet color.

 “I-irene” He stammered perhaps only in surprise, but Irene couldn’t help but feel that perhaps Steve was just kind of shy around girls. “What are you doing here?” He questions glancing around, and looking to her, though his blush darkening a little as he stammered again stumbling over his words a little. “ I – I mean not that you aren’t all-lowed to be here or anything. I just didn’t think I would see you here” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, he had really big hands, Irene noted idly and smiled at his reaction unable to stifle a giggle at the flustered blond.

“Yeah, I know. I stopped by your apartment looking for you but you weren’t there. So I guessed and got lucky by finding you here. I hope you don’t mind…” She trailed off and now it was her turn to blush _. ‘Oh god I hope he doesn’t think I’m a creepy stalker, that could just make this all go really bad’_ She thought to herself, though he seemed relatively mellow for someone that might suspect he was being stalked.

“No, no It’s fine. I guess I’m just wondering while you’re here” Steve stated, watching her, his azure gaze clearly curious by now. Irene had to refrain from speaking her mind and telling the painfully attractive man in front of her _‘ Oh I just came to defile the church confessionals with you’_ Because that would go over like a lead balloon, even if the idea was tantalizingly delicious.

“Well, I- wanted to talk to you. Why don’t we go for a walk,? I get kinda antsy if I have to stand in one place to long" She admitted. Steve acquiesced to her request and they were off wondering through the streets of New York City.

"So, uh what did you want to talk to me about?" Steve asked his gaze wandering as they walked, glancing to her briefly. Irene was hesitant, how do you break news like this to a man, she'd heard of a few cutesy ways some women had revealed their pregnancy to their significant others. Granted this situation was very different, she didn't really even know Steve they weren't in any manner of relationship.

"I- " She laughed almost to herself looking to the other blue eyes meeting and she looked away first the butterflies in her stomach had migrated to her chest and the fluttering was so agonizing. Steve had stopped now and watching her wearily, concerned for her at this point.

She gave a shaky sigh and continued “I’ve never done this, so I have no idea how to go about saying something like this so I guess I'll just treat it like a band aid. Just say it and hope it hurts less."To say that Steve was now very confused was an understatement, so Irene took a deep breath and the words tumbled from her mouth.

"I'm pregnant Steve" she blurted no longer able to even look at the father of her child at the embarrassment and shame that flooded her at saying those words out loud, her cheeks blooming in to two brilliant florets of crimson. Her eyes' tearing up, to say that she was scared was an understatement. She was practically paralyzed with fear awaiting his reaction.

She waited for what seemed like an eternity, managing to muster up the courage to steal a glimpse at the other who was clearly stunned. Steve was a bit ashen though he shook off the surprise of her confession enough to respond.

"I'm- a-and you're telling me that I'm that father?" He questioned to make everything crystal clear, painfully crystal clear.

Irene couldn't summon the words to confirm his statement so she made do with a simple nod, tears threatening to fall at this point half from the relief of getting the confession off her chest and the other half? She wasn't quite sure what to label that emotion yet but it didn't feel good.

He looked at her for a moment longer, clearly dumb-founded but he shook it off and decided to roll with the punches. He had a responsibility to take care of this woman now, if she was going to be the mother of his child.

"Irene, look at me" He stated lightly, straightening up and squaring his shoulders, his eyes finding her teary eyes, his brows furrowing. Was this his fault?

"Hey, wait why are you crying? Look I'm sorry about all this I just-" He cut off watching her shake her head at him. A half laugh escaping her

"I'm okay, it's just a heavy subject." She brushed off her crying, wiping her eyes and shaking her head. Steve watching her couldn't help but feel pained watching this,

"Irene, I want you to know that whatever decision you make with this I'll try to stand by you with it. If you don't want me involved I'd understand but-" "NO! Listen, I **do** want you involved Steve"

Irene stated watching him, the man known to some as Captain America looking almost pleasantly surprised. "Well, then I guess I want to help you however I can" He stated watching her almost cautiously.

"I'd appreciate that" She sniffled, watching him and considering for a moment " So I made a doctor's appointment on Tuesday" She stated, Steve nodding "I that's good. With a- um baby doctor?" He questioned unclear on what the proper term for such a doctor might be.

"Yeah, if you aren't busy you could come along if you want...?" Irene left the offer hanging out there for the Captain who seemed uncertain "What happens at these appointments?" He questioned cautious of getting in to a situation that might turn his face the exact shade of red to match the boots that he wore with his uniform.

Irene considered it for a moment " Well, the doctor makes sure the baby is healthy and that I'm healthy. And sometimes they do ultrasounds and you get pictures of the baby before it's born." She stated with a half shrug.

"I'm just as new to this as you are" She commented, Steve nodding in agreement and wondering what an ultrasound was and how modern medicine had made it possible to take pictures of a child while it was inside its mother still.

"Interesting, I suppose it couldn't hurt to go. " He reasoned, though something occurred to him suddenly. He was more than likely going to have to reveal his secret identity to Irene at some point and then something struck him that pained him to even think about. There was a finite possibility that his being a super soldier could have a serious affect on the child growing inside Irene.

His train of thought was brought off track by Irene's voice " So Steve, why don't you come to my place for dinner tonight and we can discuss this further, I'd never really planned on announcing I was pregnant across the street from an Episcopalian Church, but nothing in life really goes as planned right?" She stated, watching him as he looked around just seeming to notice the church. "Sure, that sounds fine. But you do realize I don't know where you live?"

Irene blushed at that reaching in to her purse for a pen " Says the father of my child" She murmured to herself shaking her head. Poor Steve having hearing as good as he did flushed himself rather embarrassed that he didn't know the information, or really too much at all about Irene.

Once she had retrieved a pen she glanced to him curiously " Do you have any paper?" She questioned, instigating Steve to root through his pockets, allowing Irene a moment to reflect on how she wouldn't mind getting her hands in those pockets…

And a swift painful pinch on the back of her hand was enough to flush those intoxicating thoughts down the drain _. 'Getting in his pants is how you got here in the first place, get your act together!'_ She mentally berated herself, " No, I don't" Steve stated sheepishly, Irene shrugged

"Lemme see your hand" She stated taking his large warm hand when he offered it to her, Irene reminded of how that hand had felt- _'DAMNIT! Stop it! Stupid pregnant brain!'_ Somewhat miffed with her lack of control around Steve, when he seemed to be handling everything so much better than she was, was simply infuriating as she scrawled the address to her apartment in Brooklyn on his hand. "There, you can read that right?" She questioned, watching Steve read his hand and nod.

"So 7:00 ?" He asked suggesting a time to her, to which she managed to smile and nod. " Yes. But I have to go Steve. I'll see you tonight" She stated glancing to her watching and moving off towards the nearest subway station. Glancing to his hand, her apartment wasn't that far from his own, he supposed. He should probably tell her tonight what she was getting herself in to, before she got in too deep.


	2. My nonexistant super power

 

Her baby was the size of a kumquat.

Irene had heard of a kumquat but had never seen one, so fortunately the website provided her with a picture of what appeared to be a teardrop shaped orange about as long as her big toe. Her head quirked to the side, she had only known she was pregnant since Thursday, today was Sunday and so she’d had very little time to really find out much about the organism growing inside her.

As it would turn out, going by the only possible date of conception (being the only time she’d had sex in the last 18 months.) Irene was 10 weeks pregnant, almost through the first trimester. She thought it was weird, most of the symptoms that women usually had when they were pregnant had seemed to elude her, things like nausea/vomiting, frequent urination, fatigue, aversion/cravings and heartburn. The fact that she’d manage to get away with being pregnant without the symptoms was kind of like being impervious to bullets. Super badass.

On the other hand…She had been eating a lot of Raspberry sorbet in the last few weeks, but raspberry sorbet was just delicious there is no way it had anything to do with being pregnant right? And then there was the time she’d ordered out for Chinese food and the lo mein had given her food poisoning and the egg rolls? Well let’s just say she had to air out her apartment before the food poisoning went away. Irene stopped for a moment. Wait.

When she really thought about it she really did have all those symptoms, she might as well tack on ‘some serious denial’ to that list and that would have been her in a nutshell. Well it turned out that being pregnant wasn’t her superpower after all. Fuck.

Anyhow the according to this website her due date was supposed to be around May 4th of next year, and for some reason the fact that she would be cuddling her child in roughly six months scared the hell out of Irene. It all seemed too soon.

In two weeks she would be 3 months pregnant, almost a third of her pregnancy would be finished and she hadn’t even known she was pregnant. To say that Irene was freaking out was an enormous understatement.

Wandering over to the refrigerator she opened it to try and determine what she should make for dinner. Hmm...Chicken sounded good.

 

* * *

 

Steve Rogers sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, wondering how well Irene would take the news that he was, well not exactly who she thought he was. Shaking his head and meeting his gaze in the mirror, he straightened up combing his hair and turning stepping form his bathroom, a towel draped around his hips, in to his bedroom setting to get dressed.

Once dressed, Steve headed for the door grabbing his keys and wallet on the way out. Irene’s apartment wasn’t that far from his, within walking distance really. Tucking his hands in to his pockets, he made his way over to Irene’s to discuss further the matter of her being pregnant. Although he wasn’t certain what else she might want to talk about he felt nervous over the idea of it, sure he’d encountered pregnant women before just never any that were pregnant because of him and his well- dalliances. That night, well just thinking about it made Steve blush but it had been a wonderful night but he’d never imagined things would turn out this way. He had gone out on a date with Irene at the urgings of the ever meddlesome Tony Stark, and he had intended everything to be, well for a lack of better words tame and normal. He had been too embarrassed by his actions that night and lack of self control to even get back in contact with Irene an now he felt ashamed that he hadn’t because now  she was pregnant and he was going to be a father.

Steve barely managed to dodge a taxi that honked loudly the driver yelling at him out the window, he just brushed it off and covered the remaining three blocks to Irene’s apartment building. Upon arriving he ascended the stairs arriving at the fifth floor and started looking for apartment 526B.

 Irene opening it to find none other than Steve standing there. “Hey! Come in.” She greeted motioning for him to enter the apartment. Where Steve’s apartment was relatively barren and devoid of decoration, Irene’s apartment was entirely different. Pops of bold colors, photographs of family and friends and even some artwork decorated the walls and shelves in the apartment and books. Lots and lots of books, seriously they were everywhere. On shelves, on the TV, on the coffee table, on the window sills, under the coffee table. “You like to read?” He questioned looking around, inquisitively almost feeling like he was intruding.

“Yeah, just a lot” He heard her reply, he could hear her half laugh and was almost certain without looking that she must be smiling, the idea making him crack a demure smile.

Irene having moved back in to the kitchen by this point stirring a pot of what appeared to be hot water, he turned to find her pouring over the stove “What’s that?” He questioned, eyeing the pot and moving over to find out. She shrugged “Just pasta, nothing exciting.” She stated glancing to him, pulling a noodle out of the pot and eating it, to determine if it was ready yet.

Irene nodded to the other pot on the stove top “ That’s rosa sauce” She stated turning for the sink taking the pot of pasta with her, pouring it in to the colander, her hands shaking a bit. Steve peeking at the sauce in the other pot, shrugging it off looking around the kitchen which was about the same size as the kitchen in his apartment but more likely could really only be called a kitchenette.

Once Irene had finished draining the pasta and stirred some butter in to it, they sat down with their plates, Steve’s plate loaded down with at least double what was on Irene’s plate not that she minded so much. The two sat quietly eating the food, a painfully awkward silence falling between the two of them until Steve broke the silence.

“Irene, I kinda need to tell you something.” He admitted sheepishly, setting down his fork and taking a gulp of water, Irene watching him her blue eyes inquisitive waiting and dreading what he might need to tell her.

“I’m not really certain how to go about saying this, but I am –“He broke off, rubbing his eyes. This was much harder than he had thought it would be what if she didn’t believe him? What would he do then? If she thought he was crazy and excluded him from this point on and hated him for the rest of her life. What would he do then?

“You’re married aren’t you?”

Irene questioned, jealousy tamped down as much as the idea hurt it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been deceived by a man. Her eyes hardening and pupils dilating to eclipse the majority of her irises making her eyes appear almost black in hue. Steve’s head whipped up out of his hands so fast it nearly gave him whiplash. “I-What?”

“You have a wife somewhere? Maybe even some kids? “The words came out snarky and snappy and Steve was quick to step up to staunch that fire before it raged out of control. “ No, no, no! That’s not it at all!” He proclaimed quickly though he was bothered that she thought he would do something like that. Shaking his head he sighed and stated.

“No Irene. I’m not married. What I’m trying to tell you is, well very difficult to say. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever really had to tell anyone this before but I’m not like the average person. I’m not some regular guy.”

Irene laughed at this “Oh really? “

Her voice was thick with sarcasm and Steve was certain if he didn’t continue talking he would lose her attention.

“Well to begin with I’m a lot older than I look. I was born July 4th, 1922.”

She shook her head, a breathy laugh escaping her disbelief clear in everything about her, her eyes, her posture, her very being, but she said nothing listening as he spoke at least.

“I was pretty young when I enlisted in the army; they allowed me to join for a special project. The Second World War was raging hard, and the Allies were developing a serum, to create a super soldier. Really both sides were, but we were successful. This serum was creating by a German, Dr. Erskine. I was the first and only guy that I know of that they used the serum on in the States. It was successful, as you might have guessed, but uh – not too long after that Dr. Erskine was assassinated by a German spy.  On the last mission I did for the US Army I defeated the pilot of an enemy plane, and crash landed it in the North Atlantic Ocean and was frozen there until recently. “

He stated giving her the shortest version of the story he could come up with so as not to confuse her. He looked to her to see how she was taking this. She looked quite skeptical,

“I- how do I even know any of that is true?” She questioned.

Fair enough.

“Well, I have these if that helps” He stated pulling a pair of dog tags out of his pockets and offering them to her, she took them from him cautiously, looking at them carefully.

“Steven G. Rogers

Cap-“There was a pause as she read aloud her brows furrowing, seeming concerned before she plowed through.

“Captain America?

0-704192 T42 43 A

Brooklyn, NY   C. So what does the “G” stand for Steven? “She questioned, seeming mildly amused.

His cheeks were a bit flushed at this point and he was a little more than indignant at this point. “I tell you all that and all you want to know is my middle name.” He questioned rather incredulous.

She managed a laugh “One thing at a time. Easier questions first, if you don’t mind, Captain. Now G, what does it stand for? George? Gabriel? Gregory? Garrett? Oh, I know its Graham isn’t it?” She questioned.

Steve shook his head, giving a demure chuckle and shaking his head. “No, my middle name is Grant. Honestly of all the questions I expected from this conversation, it wasn’t that.”

“Yeah, well I how do I know you aren’t making this entire thing up? Anyone can go out and have dog tags made now a days.” She questioned, the humor leaching from her.

Rather taken aback by her quick shift in attitude, Steve watched her almost stoically, “What proof do you need? My birth certificate? My enlistment papers? Because I can show you those too. “He offered sardonically.

Irene’s eyes narrowed “Y’know there’s no need to get offended. This is New York City, if I’m not looking out for myself no one will. It would be easy to be taken for a fool here; honesty is a bit of a commodity. “

“And what benefit would I get from this arrangement exactly?” He queried.

Her gaze softened as she came to a realization “A child.” She responded, thinking to herself that that wasn’t much of a benefit and more of a detriment especially financially; though at that moment she had a realization.

 “So there’s a possibility that it could affect the baby…” Irene commented blood draining from her face as she did, Steve nodding grimly. He had only found out that Irene was pregnant today, he hadn’t even considered the effects the serum might potentially have on any child he might produce.

“I- You can’t go see a civilian doctor.” He stated looking to her, “If it were to get out to any one that anyone was pregnant with my child-“He trailed off, clearly troubled by the idea of anyone getting their hands on Irene or his child.

“So then what do you propose I do?” She questioned watching him, and the Captain paused feeling like he was being posed a loaded question. “Th-That’s not what I mean. What I mean is that we need to find someone that we can trust. I have some idea as to how to go about finding someone though. Let me take care of that.” He stated watching her as she watched him.

To say that Irene was terrified would be an unjustifiable understatement, her hand was shaking as she lifted her glass of water to her mouth to take a large swig of water and her jaw quivering to hard it was a wonder Steve couldn’t hear her teeth clattering against the glass.

His large hand covered hers as she set down the empty glass of water “Irene, it’s going to be alright. We’re going to get through this together.” Their eyes met and a shock of electricity shot down Irene’s spine at the contact about the same time she felt a flutter in her stomach, she was getting butterflies just from his holding her hand. What was she fourteen? Strengthening her resolve she sat up a little bit straighter.

“So this Doctor you’re planning on finding, it better not be Tony Stark” She stated.

* * *

 

“Hey Steve, how are you?” Pepper greeted him brightly with a smile that Steve couldn’t help but return.

“I’m okay, say Pepper is Tony in I kinda need to talk to him?” He queried, looking upwards.

“Oh, yeah he’s up there. Come on I’ll take you up to him” She stated moving towards the elevator in Stark tower, the very same tower he’d called ugly not too long ago. Stepping in to the elevator car with Pepper and making idle conversation as the ascended.

“So what’ve you been up to Steve?”

“Oh, not too much really besides anything Avengers related, which tends involve quite a bit of paperwork actually.” He responded with a half hearted laugh rubbing the back of his neck.

“How about you what have you been up to?” He retorted.

“Oh, busy with Stark Industries, lots of meetings and a great deal of paper work myself” Pepper responded smiling, and looking up as the doors opened, stepping out of the elevator Steve following her looking around.

“You guys finished with repairs?” Steve asked politely looking around recalling some of the damage the tower had sustained from the alien invasion of New York.

“Yes, but that’s not why you’re here, is it Rogers?”

Ah, there was Tony looking almost like the cat that ate the canary, a glass of scotch in one hand the other in his pocket.

“Well no, it isn’t. “ He stated glancing to Pepper, then back to Tony. “I was hoping to have a private conversation with you-“Steve started but was cut off by Tony.

“Anything you want to say to me you can say in front of Pepper” Tony insisted perching himself on a chair nearby “So what do you want? Don’t tell me Fury made you his messenger boy?”

Steve took a few steps forwards scowling at Tony’s words. “No, this has nothing to do with Fury. You- uh remember that girl I met?” He started

“Vaguely, what did you go to first base or something? What’s the issue? “Stark responded seeming bored already with all of this.

“Tony!” Pepper admonished scowling at him, glancing back to Steve wondering where he was going with this.

“Well, you see as it would turn out she’s pregnant and I don’t trust civilian doctors with something like this. I’m kind of concerned what affect the serum could have on the kid”

To say that he’d caught Tony Stark off guard was an understatement, although he did get a little bit of enjoyment out of silencing the snarky billionaire, even if it was only for a moment.

Tony’s eyebrows almost shot in to his hairline, he cleared his throat taking a swig of scotch before he responded.

“So are you sure the kids yours? I mean didn’t you use protection?” Stark inquired rather interested now.

Steve flushed bright red first in indignation and then in mild embarrassment “Hey! Would I be here if I weren’t sure?!” He snapped, though at the back of his mind something nagged at him, that Tony had a point, but he pushed the thought away for the moment; he had other things to focus on for the moment.

Tony seemed skeptical but moved on, his free hand up defensively. “Alright, alright so you’re coming to me with this why? You know I’m not a doctor right? Shouldn’t this be more of something you take to Fury?” He questioned seeming a bit puzzled at this point.

Steve looked a bit sheepish at that “I don’t really know that I can trust Fury with something like this, after what happened on the helicarrier? I was kind of hoping you might know someone?” He questioned, looking from Tony to Pepper and back again.

Tony sighed giving it some consideration “Well, I can understand not wanting to trust Fury but he will find out eventually, even if you don’t tell him. As for a doctor, I’m –“

“I’ll find someone for you Steve” Pepper offered, Steve looking to her almost surprised. She’d been quiet for most of this exchange but piped up now “I’ll call you and let you know” She stated.

Steve looked to her “Thanks. I would appreciate that.” He stated, a small amount of relief finding its way in.

* * *

 

_Thud, thud, thud, Thwack!_

It was a lot to take in, really he wasn’t sure how most guys in his situation dealt with it, and really the only thing that had stayed the same since he had been frozen was well, boxing. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy training on a heavy bag, but it was perhaps one of the few things still familiar to him in this world.

_Crack! Bap-bap, whap!_

The chains suspending the heavy bag off the ground creaked in protest at the force of his blows but still held the bag fast to the frame it hung from. He wasn’t even sure if Irene believed he was who he said he was, he couldn’t help but feel that she was almost playing games with him.

_Wrack! Fwack, whap-bap, crack!_

Stark had a valid point, how was he supposed to know that she was even pregnant with his child? How did he know She wasn’t trying to trick Him? Really, it was hard to trust anyone nowadays. What kind of thoughts were those to think about the mother of his child?! _THWACK!_

“Fuck.” He murmured running his fingers through his hair, a light sheen of perspiration coating him as he eyed the now defeated heavy bag where it lay against the far wall hemorrhaging sand on to the floor slowly, but he wasn’t worried about it, it would stop in a moment.

Tony was the one who had planted that idea in his head to begin with; Tony who Steve was sure had his own fair share of discretions, certainly some of them worse than this. Who was he kidding? This is Tony Stark, of course they were worse. Right?

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright I’m hoping you all enjoyed that. I wrote this while deliriously tired and edited it while I was deliriously tired so I hope you found my second state of delirium more enjoyable. . I hope to have Chapter 3 up soon.


	3. Fixating nouns

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters named or personified in this fictional piece of work.

"Ugh!" With a near growl of frustration Irene threw the third pair of pants she had tried on today at her closet door. Setting her hands on her hips and glancing down at the budding baby bump, that had seemed to appear far too quickly, she huffed finally opting for a skirt with an elastic waistband. Pulling a shirt on over the skirt and heading for the door reminding herself than she needed to get a few new bras before her rapidly expanding bust burst the seams in her current bras.

Grabbing her bag and slinging it over one shoulder as she headed out the door, locking it behind herself. Heading out down the side walk, checking her watch to make sure she wasn't late and wouldn't you know it? She was running late, she'd have to stop off at the book store on her way home from rehearsal.

Irene picking up pace as she rounded a corner knowing the Subway station was just around the corner and Thwack! She ran straight in to a man, her bag crashing in to the pavement and attempting to scatter its contents everywhere.

"Oh! I'm sorry" She murmured a bit embarrassed a light flush staining her cheeks. This man, unlike Steve was only a bit taller than her, roughly the same size as one of her younger brothers, though she worried this man might not be as courteous as her brother might. This man's warm brown eyes seemed to promise other wise and made Irene feel guilty for being presumptuous.

"Are you alright?" He asked stooping to help her recover her papers, Irene nodded.

"Yes I'm fine. I'm sorry." She stated scrambling to get her sheet music back in her back and once it was all back in, she hurried off calling a thank you back to the kind stranger.

Moving quickly down the stairs to the subway, purchasing a fare card and waiting impatiently for the next train to arrive, upon its arrival she climbed aboard.

Getting off at her stop and taking the stairs almost two at a time, Irene was a bit dizzy at the top of the stairs, but she headed for the building across the street. Checking her watch and swearing as she realized she was late for rehearsal.

"Damnit."

Wrenching the door open and rushing through the halls to the instrument storage room and picking up her cello. Moving off, entering the back of the auditorium as quietly as she could trying to be stealthy, although no amount of stealthiness could keep her from evading detection.

Heading up to the stage and sliding in to her chair with her cello, her stand partner glancing over.

"How kind of you to grace us with your presence" Getting Irene to roll her eyes and hum in response

" Hmm" in place of any number of scathing remarks she could think up, though she realized that none of her coworkers knew she was pregnant and deciding perhaps she should be a bit more forgiving of her snarky colleagues.

Shaking off the comment, and taking a moment to find her place in the music, lifting her bow and playing for a good two hours before they took a break, Irene rose from her chair stretching her arms and heading towards the bathroom trying not to run to the bathroom.

Emerging from the bathroom a few minutes later, Irene nearly ran in to Brayden, a man who may have seemed tall next to Irene but was a bit short, standing at five feet six inches, the best word Irene could come up with to describe Brayden's build was awkward. This probably had something to do with the fact that he was a bit lanky, which might have a different affect with a taller man but with Brayden it only made Irene feel like he'd been sewn together out of a bin of leftover body parts.

There were some men in the orchestra that Irene would gladly give the time of day, Brayden however was not one of them, no matter how many delusions he may have entertained. Not that Irene was so terribly shallow, I mean once you get past the greasy blond hair and the beady green eyes and of course let's not forget the awkward body frame; there is Brayden's great love of himself and of course his nature to fixate on nouns. No, not actual words, but people, places and things; the less attainable the better.

Brayden had gone to college with Irene and thus had the better part of three or four years to fixate on her, to obsess over her, honestly she wouldn't put it past him to sit outside her bathroom window and spy on her except that she lived on the fourth floor and her bathroom had no windows fortunately.

Brayden had spent a good portion of his college career lusting after her, and the other part working on attaining first Trumpet. Both pursuits had turned out to be fruitless, yet somehow he had ended up here in New York with Irene.

"Irene, what are you doing after this? Want to go get some coffee?" He questioned grinning like a Cheshire cat, making Irene feel somewhat like a mouse trapped in a corner by a cat.

Today, she had something to do today. What was it? She had a doctor's appointment but that was tomorrow. She was meeting Steve and pregnant women can't drink coffee! Joy of all joys, she didn't have to fabricate an excuse to feed to poor Brayden. Just like that the game of cat and mouse turned around, she even managed a sympathetic smile.

"Sorry Brayden, I can't. I already have plans. How do you like the new music for the upcoming concert season though?" She stated changing the subject heading back towards the rehearsal area. Stifling a smile at his snort of derision

"Pictures at an Exhibition? Please, I was playing that with my Youth Orchestra when I was in middle school. I'd much rather play a Beethoven's Fourth or at least The Barber of Seville. Don't you think?" He queried shaking his head.

"What? What's wrong with Mussorgsky? I happen to like Pictures at an Exhibition; it reminds me of my orchestra from high school. Our teacher died the year we played this, he had a heart attack and never quite recovered." She stated, remember the conductor made old regrets rise at the back of her mind. Glancing over to Brayden who was leaning in to her, stepping away from him Irene questioned.

"What are you doing?" Brayden looked away and rubbed his nose, a tell tale sign that he'd just embarrassed himself.

"I- nothing. Just, um going for a sympathetic hug?" He offered that Cheshire cat grin appearing again, approaching her with his arms out for a hug. Irene was skeptical, but half leaned in for a hug anyway, though as she did she caught scent of something that made her stomach lurch. Brayden's cologne was downright nauseating to smell and it was all she could smell. What did he bathe in cologne exclusively?

Jerking out of his grasp Irene darted for the bathroom and barely made it in to a stall before she violently vomited. Retching several times and dry heaving so hard she wanted to cry after the contents of her stomach had emptied.

"Irene? Are you okay? Honey, if you're sick you need to go home." There was a soft knock on the stall door, which could have only been Delilah. Delilah was a little waif of a woman, who was of Arabic descent and perhaps one of the few people in the New York Philharmonic that Irene could actually stand to be around.

Irene came to stand on shaking legs, flushing the toilet and unlocking the stall door to face her friend. Delilah's dark eyes studied her for a moment before pulling her over to a sink and handing her some paper towels.

Irene washing her face and her mouth out, quietly thanking Delilah, "So where did you catch the plague?" Delilah teased lightly.

Irene smiled a bit in spite of herself and considering the reality of the situation she could hardly tell her friend the truth so she went fishing for an excuse and was proud of herself to come up with this.

"I think I caught a stomach virus." She stated one hand on her stomach that was still rather unsettled from Brayden's cologne. A small amount of relief came as her friend shrugged it off, turning away from her.

"Alright, well don't give it to me. I don't need it. "She stated putting her hands up in front of her and shaking her head, her generous swarthy locks swaying with her head as she did.

Irene smiled a bit, she wished she could tell Delilah she was pregnant but seeing as she had yet to even tell her mother and was just beginning to come to terms with it herself but she promised herself she would tell Delilah soon and in time the orchestra.

"Alright sweetheart, let's get you out of here and on your way home. You don't want to get anyone else sick. Do you think you will be alright to get home or do I need to come with you?" She questioned, leading Irene from the bathroom and back towards the auditorium.

Speaking to the conductor, Karen, briefly and packing up her cello; Irene was heading out of the building when she was intercepted by Brayden.

"Irene, are you alright? Do you need me to take you home?" He questioned seeming concerned.

Irene shook her head. "No, I'll be alright on my own Brayden. Thanks though. I'll see you next week" She stated, heading for the doors before he could get close enough to her for her to smell him.

Once she arrived back at her apartment building, riding the elevator up to the fourth floor, not quite feeling well enough to take the stairs. Stepping off the elevator and wandering down the hallway towards her apartment, when she smelled something. What was that? She wasn't sure but whatever it was it was making her feel excruciatingly nauseous. She rushed to her door, fumbling with her keys to unlock the door, throwing the door open and darting inside and ending up retching in the sink.

As soon as her stomach calmed enough for her to be comfortable more than a foot away from the sink she went over to her gaping door and shut and locked it, cursing her neighbors for using an excessive amount of garlic.

Meandering in to her bathroom and brushing her teeth thoroughly, Irene then wandered in to her kitchen and grabbed a sleeve of crackers. Eating about half of the package before she set it aside, and sat down on the couch turning on the television; it hadn't really occurred to her how tired she was until just now.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Purple_

_Purple seemed appropriate._

_Wait, what is purple appropriate for and why purple specifically?_

_Irene wasn't certain she knew the answer for either of those, but there was something about this very purple room that was throwing her off._

_Maybe it was the adorable bunny wallpaper border than was also so very purple, or perhaps it was the violet crib swathed in lavender bed sheets and blankets. No, that wasn't it either. ___

_Thunk thunk thunk_

__What was that? Steve was constructing some sort of plum colored furniture. Oh, shelves. A plum hued book shelf no taller than three feet, Irene turned around to find an enormous pile of dresses that seemed to growing at an alarming rate and all of the dresses were in shades of purple: plum, periwinkle, mulberry, violet, indigo, lavender ,amethyst ,orchid ,lilac and even mauve. ____

__Thunk thunk thunk_ _

___This pile of dresses continued to grow and grow and grow and grow_ _ _

___until it toppled over and came crashing down on to Irene, effectively burying her feeling like she was suffocating, drowning in all the purple, that sea of amethyst. ____ _

___She woke with a start, gasping for air, what the hell kind of dream was that?_ _ _

___Thunk thunk thunk_ _ _

___Oh, someone was knocking on her door glancing at the clock she was pretty sure who it was. Moving over to the door, not even caring what she looked like, opening the door or at least attempting to. Grumbling to herself Irene unlocked the door and then opened it._ _ _

___"Hey, come in" She stated her voice still a bit groggy, Steve seeming a bit surprised at that but stepping in nudging the door shut behind himself._ _ _

___"Sorry, Did I wake you up?" He questioned, looking her over. Her rumpled hair and clothes were a dead giveaway and she didn't bother to deny it._ _ _

___"Yeah, but I needed to wake up. I was having a really weird dream. Give me a minute?" She responded, watching him nod, she moved in to her bathroom resist the urge to rub her itchy eyes. Taking out her contacts and disposing of them, rinsing her face with water and smoothing down her hair. Moving back in to her bedroom that was connected to her bathroom and grabbing the case from her bedside table and putting on her glasses, heading back to where she had left Steve._ _ _

___"You wear glasses?" He asked, genuinely surprised by this, Irene nodded._ _ _

___"Mmhm, I'm near sighted. So are my mom and three of my siblings. "She responded, seeming mildly amused._ _ _

___"But your eyes aren't that bad are they? I've seen you without glasses plenty of times." Steve questioned mildly curious._ _ _

___"Well, my vision is bad enough for the state of Maryland to require me to wear them when I drive. Usually I wear contact lenses." She responded with a half shrug, sitting down on one end of the couch and picking up her previously discarded half package of crackers and continuing to munch on them._ _ _

___Steve wasn't certain what exactly contact lenses were but he let it go,_ _ _

___"So the doctor called you?" he prompted and Irene perked and nodded._ _ _

___"Yes they called me. I have an appointment with Dr. Greyson on Thursday at 9:00 AM" She responded pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose as they had started to slide._ _ _

___"You know you look funny with glasses on, not that I'm trying to say you look funny I just mean that you - well"_ _ _

___Irene smiled, shaking her head "No I know. I look different. You aren't used to it. "She provided, and Steve interjected a bit flustered at this point. " No, I mean I like it. I- I like them on you. It's cute." He stated clearly quite flustered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away._ _ _

___Irene nodded blushing lightly "I- um thanks. " She murmured with a soft smile, running her fingers through her hair to give herself a moment to separate from the moment before she screamed like a fourteen year old girl at a boy band concert._ _ _

___Switching subjects to break the tension "Anyhow I wanted to let you know, so that you would be aware of it and if you wanted to come along you could." She stated watching the Captain react to this._ _ _

___His uncertain gaze met hers "I don't- I mean, what exactly is going to happen at this appointment?" He questioned, azure gaze meeting hers._ _ _

___She hummed nodding, "I actually asked them and they said they would take my medical history, do some blood tests and an ultrasound." She responded not too entirely certain of the details herself, though catching the expression on his face as she mentioned an ultrasound._ _ _

___"An ultrasound and mind you I'm not entirely certain how it works but it's a machine that lets you see your child before it's born. They can use it to make sure the kid is developing normally and you can find out what gender the baby is before it's born. "She explained catching the look of wonder on his face and unable to keep herself from smiling._ _ _

___Shaking his head, Steve managed a smile "As long as you don't mind, I'll go." He stated with a half-hearted laugh though his pocket started chiming. Blinking he pulled out the cell phone he carried only so that Tony or SHIELD could get in contact with him about Avengers related issues. Flipping the phone open as it finished chiming, opening the message and reading it. His gaze darkening as he did, shutting the phone his expression serious, the previous wonder that had occupied his face erased._ _ _

___"Irene, I'm sorry but I have to go. I'll see you later; make sure you lock your door. "He stated practically running from the apartment shutting the door behind himself; Irene blinking, watching him go, a bit taken aback but getting up to lock the door after him. Concern taking root in a corner of her brain and nagging at her but she had a busy weekend ahead of her with both a doctor's appointment tomorrow and having to leave town for her brother's wedding._ _ _

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___"Captain Rogers, come in. "Fury greeted waving the other in to the room._ _ _

___"What seems to be the issue?" The Captain inquired watching the Director as he spoke._ _ _

___"Well, it's like this. There is a group of people in Washington D.C. that somehow got their hands on some of those Chitari weapons from the invasion and they somehow got them to work and are committing strings of crimes throughout the state. Quite a few murders and several robberies are what we have been able to connect to this group so far, what we need you to do is get in there and take care of them before they hurt anyone else._ _ _

___"So is it just me on this mission?" Steve asked looking over the papers and photos._ _ _

___Fury shook his head "No, Agents Romanov and Barton will be working with you on this assignment. You can rendezvous with them in the hangar. "Steve nodded and headed off._ _ _

___"Oh, and Captain Rogers? Try to keep this operation as discrete as possible and make sure you recover the alien weapons." Fury called to the other, Steve nodding._ _ _

___"Right"_ _ _

___ _

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

___The next morning Irene woke with a start as her alarm clock shrieked at her, sitting up and smacking the snooze button contemptuously, glaring at the clock and then turning off the alarm and proceeding to put on her glasses. Getting out of bed with a sigh and wandering in to her kitchen to get herself a glass of water and wondered what she was going to eat for breakfast; kneading her lower lip with her teeth as she looked through her fridge and cabinets and ended up munching idly on a peanut butter sandwich that just wasn't quite right. It needed something, browsing through her cabinets and stumbling across a jar of jalapeño peppers, of course! That was exactly what this sandwich needed._ _ _

___Taking a shower and glancing at the clock, noting that she still had plenty of time to make it to her appointment, though he mind drifted to Steve, he'd gone off in such a hurry last night. If he was Captain America, which she was beginning to suspect was actually true, he could be anywhere right now, doing who knows what. Hell, he could even be dying right now- She stopped herself right there. Seriously, that was what she thought of the father of her child? Although that did stop her from turning on the news, if nothing else just to soothe her fears. Geez, certainly if there were some grand catastrophe that required Captain America's help it would be on the news right? Steve had said he would go, but that had been on the fly. He'd always kept his word every other time but- she couldn't help but feel trepidation about today._ _ _

___Once she had dressed to go out, in rather uncomfortable clothes making a note to herself that she would need to go shopping for clothes that fit better, she headed out of her apartment, grateful that her neighbors weren't abusing garlic again._ _ _

___Heading out of her apartment complex and off to the nearest subway station to catch the train that would drop her off closest to Dr. Greyson's office, she had no trouble finding Dr. Greyson's office once she emerged from the subway station. The smell of coffee as she entered the atrium made her really want a cup of coffee, but from what she'd read on the internet coffee was a big no-no for pregnant women._ _ _

___Meandering over to the directory, scanning it down to the name she was looking for "Superior Women's Health " She read aloud to herself, shaking her head as she headed in to the office, wandering up to the receptionists desk._ _ _

___A petite blonde woman sat behind the desk typing away at the computer, she glanced up as Irene approached._ _ _

___"I'll be with you in just a moment ma'am" She chirped, and went back to her rapid clacking on the keyboard, a few moments later she looked up._ _ _

___"Alright, what can I do for you today Mrs.?"_ _ _

___"I have an appointment with Dr. Greyson today in ten minutes" Irene offered to the other, the female nodding and responding._ _ _

___"Irene Morrison?"She questioned_ _ _

___"No, my last name is Morrissey" She responded_ _ _

___"Alright then Mrs. Morrissey, since this is your first time to see us I'm going to need to have you fill out some paperwork for me alright?"_ _ _

___The perky receptionist chimed, handing her a clipboard with several papers on it, which only took Irene five minutes to fill out. Returning the forms to the receptionist and being called back in to the office a minute later._ _ _

___Surprisingly fast for a doctor's office, although she supposed being the first appointment this morning didn't hurt. Although it did make her nervous that Steve hadn't shown up yet, well she knew he knew the address, maybe he was just running a little late and hopefully he would catch up._ _ _

___The nurse smiling at her and once Irene had provided a urine sample and had been measured to see how tall she was, still standing at the same height she had been in the ninth grade, about five foot two inches. Then the nurse proceeded to weigh her and take her blood pressure, what weight gain she had was normal and her blood pressure was a little high but then again she couldn't get her mind off Steve and where he was._ _ _

___ _

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

___Steve ducked back behind a car, narrowly missing being shot at by the man in the building. They had managed to pin down two guys in a rough part of the city, the police had cordoned off the block and we maintain a several block perimeter to detain the two men held up in the building should they attempt to escape._ _ _

___There had been a few more but the others in the group had scattered when they realized what was going on as the Captain and his team had moved in on them._ _ _

___Gun fire ensued and he glanced over to find the shooter firing on Natasha as she ducked between cars getting closer and closer to the front of the building they had barricaded themselves into. And then suddenly it was quiet, for one very still moment. Turning to look he found the body of the first shooter slumped over the sill of the window he'd been shooting at them from, from his closely shaven dark hair an arrow embedded deep in to his temple, only either end of the arrow protruding from either side of the man's head in a clear diagonal line._ _ _

___"Dierdre!"_ _ _

___Came the shout from the man's comrade, who had apparently realized that his companion was dead, his body was jerked back through the window. The Captain stood and led the charge in to the building while the man was distracted with his fallen comrade._ _ _

___"Barton, keep an eye on him. If he so much as sneezes I want to know" He quipped out quickly over their communications link, hearing the archer respond with an affirmative. The Captain moving in with Natasha and a contingent of SWAT officers, storming in, heading up floor after floor until they reached the top floor where the pair had been shooting from._ _ _

___Stepping out in to the dusty dilapidated floor looking much like all the others had, though this floor was also had a layer of bullet casings gleaming at him in the early morning light, a thought nagged at him that there was something he was forgetting but Steve had no time for distracting thoughts right now scoping out the area carefully, his body tense prepared to spring in to action at a moment's notice._ _ _

___For several minutes the only sounds to be heard was the sound of their footsteps across the gritty floor, the communication that all the little nooks and crannies on the floor were clear and an almost haunting sound of wind howling through the vacant building, rounding a corner carefully they came across the dead body of the first shooter "Dierdre". Steve glanced back, nodding to two SWAT officers and motioning for them to check and make sure he was dead continuing forwards._ _ _

___The was a buzz in his ear as the line went live and then Barton's voice sounding in his ear. "Captain looks like we have a runner; he's coming down the fire escape on the south side of the building"_ _ _

___Steve nodding to Natasha giving her command for the scene for the time being turning to pursue the other shooter. Turning for the stairs, leaping down flights at a time "Keep an eye on him" He stated through the comm. link intent on his target, exiting the building through a fire door on the ground floor and rounding the building._ _ _

___"He just jumped off the fire escape, has a limp but he's still running. If you get around the building fast enough you can head him off" Barton stated._ _ _

___Steve turned sprinting around the building to find that he could indeed see the blonde man gimping away, running after him, shield in hand in case the other attempted to shoot him. The man choosing that moment to glance back at the other man, eyes widening and screaming something that sounded like German to Steve but he couldn't be sure._ _ _

___This other man turning to fire at Steve who flung his shield at the other easily knocking him on his ass and efficiently knocking the gun from his hands, Steve moving towards him to recover his shield and apprehend this man._ _ _

___He appeared unconscious as Steve walked over but that was no reason for him not to be cautious, as the man on the ground roused, wearing what were now blood stained dingy clothing. The man going to reach for the gun and Steve kicking it out of his reach, his eyes widening at the man who had a swastika tattooed on his forehead, his no dingy blonde hair cropped close to his scalp as well, the man spoke once more in German and Steve glanced down realizing only now that he had a four or five inch knife in his hand, Steve quickly seizing both of his hands_ _ _

___"Drop the knife!" He ground out, struggling with the man to get the knife out of his hands which proved rather difficult when it was in sweaty, greasy hands. The man managing to writhe out of Steve's grip and slashing at him with the knife screaming at him in his native tongue, and suddenly lunging forwards managing to catch Steve off guard the knife penetrating his chest just under his collar bone and creating a good two inch gash there. Steve gasped sharply both surprised and in pain, shoving the other away from him ignoring the gush of blood that spouted from his chest wound. The other man being shoved head first in to a metal dumpster by Steve, was knocked stupid by the blow, lying in the dingy alleyway blinking as if trying to clear his vision a trickle of blood creeping down the side of his head and matting his already filthy blonde hair. Steve sighed reaching for his shield, and speaking over the comm. link "The second shooter is down."_ _ _

___ _

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

____"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh" ____ _ _

____That was the sound of her baby's heartbeat, and it was beautiful. Irene couldn't help herself, her eyes watered, and Dr. Greyson smiled at her._ _ _ _

____"That's a very strong heartbeat, that's what I like to hear" The doctor smiled looking from the Doppler back to the woman. A moment later turning the machine off and the doctor turned preparing the ultrasound machine for use, Irene watching the screen as the doctor began the ultrasound watching as the images flickered on to the screen. Gasping softly to herself as more tears rose up "Oh…"_ _ _ _

____It was all becoming all too real for her, and yet she couldn't look away from the screen, seeing that tiny little human from all angles, from tiny toes to somewhat the over large head._ _ _ _

____"Alright Ms. Morrissey, everything looks normal. Baby is measuring a healthy size and it looks like you were right on about how far along you are. So going by you being at 12 weeks currently I would put your due date at about May 4th. Baby's legs are crossed so I can't even begin to attempt to determine the sex, but would you like me to print out a few stills for you?"_ _ _ _

____Irene nodded watching the screen still, practically enraptured by the images on it. "Yes, I do._ _ _ _

____ _ _

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Steve winced as the doctor doing his stitches pulled the next stitch tight, it felt weird being able to feel the pulling and tugging of the needle and string but not feel pain from it, glancing down to see that the doctor was almost finished._ _ _ _

____"Now, how long before this need to come out do you think?" He questioned, his eyes watching the doctors hands. The doctor smiled up at him, his mousy eyes magnified by the thick lenses of his glasses, he made a sound that sounded somewhere between a chuckle and a cough._ _ _ _

____"Actually, you don't. The inner set should dissolve on their own and this outer layer of stitches will come out on their own. "He responded, finishing up with the line of stitches, and dressing the wound with steri-strips and taping a few gauze pads over it, to absorb any bleeding._ _ _ _

____"Alright then, that should be about it. Let me get your discharge paperwork together and you can get one with your day. Now take it easy for a few days, you don't want to rip your stitches." The doctor stated turning away to head over to the nurse's station._ _ _ _

____Glancing over to the clock after he had pulled his shirt back on,_ _ _ _

____"10:30?"_ _ _ _

____Something about that sounded wrong, like there was something he was forgetting, like say perhaps something he was supposed to do with Irene. Like go with her to her first doctor's appointment. Steve felt so guilty; he couldn't believe that he had forgotten that he had told Irene that he would go with her to her doctor's appointment. He stood from the gurney, turning to find Barton standing there watching him._ _ _ _

____"You about ready to go Steve?" Clint questioned, seeing Steve nod, he turned to go. "Alright let's go. Don't worry about the paperwork, it's taken care of. "_ _ _ _

____Steve nodded on their way out of the area of the emergency room that had been partitioned off for use by SHIELD and for the SWAT medics that had been on assignment with them._ _ _ _

____"Alright, I need to get back up to New York as soon as possible."_ _ _ _

____Natasha joined them as he said that, glancing to him "Why? You have a hot date?"_ _ _ _

____"Something like that" He responded, moving past the two master spies._ _ _ _

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Irene couldn't help herself, once she got home; she pulled out the still that Dr. Greyson had printed off for her of her baby. Smiling to herself as she put it on the counter- top glancing to the clock, stunned that she was rather pressed for time to get in a shower, pack for her brother's wedding and get to the train station on time. Turning and rushing in to the bathroom, starting the shower and stepping in once the water was warm._ _ _ _

____Stepping out of the bathroom ten minutes later, which was probably a record for her, and setting to getting dressed rather quickly, pulling on comfortable clothes to travel in and setting to packing her suit case. Her only real concern about the wedding being how well she would fit in to her bridesmaid dress now that she was growing a person inside her, she shrugged it off. No use in worrying over things she couldn't do much about, sighing wondering what had happened to Steve, he hadn't called or even attempted to contact her to explain why he hadn't showed up at all this morning._ _ _ _

____That he'd neglected to show up or let her know he couldn't be there did not bode well for her or their child. How was she supposed to trust him when he can't even keep to his word? She couldn't really._ _ _ _

____Sighing softly as she finished up packing her bag, and shaking her head as she rushed around her apartment, making certain to grab the essentials._ _ _ _

____Making herself a quick lunch and rushing out of her apartment so that she could catch her train on time, making sure to lock up her apartment on her way out._ _ _ _

____By the time Steve made in back to New York and was debriefed by Director Fury, Irene was already long gone. So when he got to her apartment, there was no one there to answer his knocks. Sighing and pulling the cell phone from his pocket looking at it and taking a moment to remember the number she had written on his hand and nodding to himself as he punched in the numbers he was pretty certain were correct._ _ _ _

____Bringing the phone to his ear and listening as the phone rang and rang until finally the other end picked up; there was some fumbling and a fair amount of background noise before finally._ _ _ _

____"Hello? Steve?"_ _ _ _

____"Hi Irene. I really just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to blow you off today. I uh, I got called in to work" He stated, his eyes tracking one of the tenants walking down the hallway past him._ _ _ _

____"I- alright. Are you alright?" She questioned sounding cautious. Steve blinked surprised that her first concern would be his well being._ _ _ _

____"Me? I'm fine. How did your appointment go?" He questioned wondering off down the hall, heading out of the building._ _ _ _

____"Oh, it went really well actually. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat, and see the ultrasound of it. The doctor says everything seems fine and that the baby is a healthy size, right where it needs to be developmentally. I have a picture for you of the baby actually. I'll have to get it to you after I get back though." She responded sounded a little distracted._ _ _ _

____"Okay, well that's great then. I'm glad that there is nothing wrong. When you get back? Where are you going?" He questioned, curious at this point because she hadn't mentioned going anywhere._ _ _ _

____"I'm just heading down to Baltimore for the weekend, my older brother, Ian is getting married. I'll be back on Sunday."_ _ _ _

____"Alright then. Well have a nice time then. "He stated not really sure what else to say, then continued. "I mean I would have called you sooner, I needed stitches and those take longer than most people probably real-"_ _ _ _

____"What do you mean you needed stitches?! You said you were fine!" She exclaimed, going from calm to anxious in less than a minute._ _ _ _

____"Well, I mean I will be fine. I just had a small wound. It's nothing to worry about, it will heal up fine. It's not really something I can go in to detail about." He felt even worse now, knowing that she was worrying about him._ _ _ _

____Irene shook her head, sighing sounding exasperated. "You worry me sometimes, you know that? And- actually you know what I actually have to go. This is my stop. I'll see you on Sunday alright?"_ _ _ _

____"Um, alright then. Bye."_ _ _ _

____"Talk with you later. Stay out of trouble. Bye."_ _ _ _

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _ _

____ _ _

____"Jaeger, Jaeger. Look here he comes. I wonder who he was visiting in the apartment building." Carley stated, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes and glancing to her companion who was at least a foot taller than her and twice as wide, his hair would have been dark like hers but he kept it shaved close to his scalp._ _ _ _

____He glanced up from the magazine he was browsing through, brown eyes tracking the movement of the blonde man and he walked down the opposite side of the street and around the corner. Playing with his tongue piercing as he seemed to consider the situation and humming to himself before looking to the slender woman standing next to him, and stepping away from the stand so there was certainly no one eavesdropping._ _ _ _

____"He always goes up to the fourth floor, to the apartment third from the left. Deirdre and I have seen him in there a few times. She left with a suitcase earlier, so she'll be gone for at least a few days. What better time could there be?" He responded watching her hazel eyes light up._ _ _ _

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _ _

____Brigid Keeva Morrissey was a robust woman to say the least; it was hard to Irene to miss her mother considering her mother's hair was a very vivid red, even if it was starting to get some gray in it. Putting her phone in her pocket and heading over to her mother grinning brightly, greeting her with arms wide open_ _ _ _

____"Mom! I've missed you!" She proclaimed hugging her mother, pulling back from the hug letting her mother look her over._ _ _ _

____"Irene, I've missed you too. Have you put on weight dear? " She stated, her mother was from Ireland so Irene couldn't help but grin listening to her mother's accent, then her mother glanced back looking to a man standing next to her, an excruciatingly lanky young man. "Well Finn? Aren't you going to hug your sister, g'on now? "She stated._ _ _ _

____Irene started looking closer at the man, realizing that it was indeed her baby brother, hugging him tight and saying "Oh my goodness Finn, I can't believe you're all grown up. Look at you, like a bean pole" She laughed lightly shaking her head, following her mother out of the train station with her brother in tow._ _ _ _

____Once they got back to what had been her childhood home, she grinned looking at it, if was a fair sized two story house, that probably didn't have enough room for herself, her parents and her eight fully grown siblings not to mention her oldest brother's wife and children. As far as birth order went Irene was the oldest girl but the third child to be born. Her oldest brother Dillon was already married and had two little boys of his own and Ian was the second born son who was getting married this weekend._ _ _ _

____She couldn't help grinning to herself as she trekked up the stairs to her old room that she had shared with her three younger sisters; the room was painted pastel pink and dominated by a bunk bed set on opposite sides of the relatively small room from each other. Really there was scarcely enough room in this room for one girl and all of her things, so the fact that she had shared it with three other girls and made it out alive and sane was really a miracle._ _ _ _

____Later that night after having eaten dinner with her parents and youngest brother, having changed in to her pajamas and getting ready to settle in for bed, a soft knock sounded and the door opened revealing her mother and Sadie, the yellow lab they'd had for a few years. The dog giving a soft "woof" and hoping up on the bunk Irene had been planning on sleeping in._ _ _ _

____"Yes Mom?" Irene questioned, watching her mother cautiously as her mother closed the door._ _ _ _

____"Irene, sweetheart. I have to know for certain. Now tell me truthfully, are you pregnant?"_ _ _ _

____Irene could have fallen over, was it that obvious? She groaned putting her face in her hands for a moment, and then looking to her mother. "Yes, Ma. I am."_ _ _ _

____To her credit, Brigid did not start yelling and screaming, did not turn purple or start shaking like she was prone to doing when angry, she put a hand to her chest and sighed._ _ _ _

____"Oh my stars, I was worried you would say that, dear." She said, her voice cracking and Irene went over hugging her mother._ _ _ _

____"Oh Mama, don't cry. It will be alright. I have a steady well paying job. And the father is a great guy, I think you would really like him." She said soothingly to her mother. Once she had divulged the details of how far along she was, told her mother a bit about this great guy that was the father of her child and the two of them had cooed over the ultrasound she had with her, her mother headed off to bed._ _ _ _

____Leaving Irene to lay in an uncomfortable too small bunk made even smaller by the sixty pound Labrador retriever taking up the majority of the space, in the dark by herself. It was at this point, where she truly realized just how alone she was in that moment that she broke down, hot tears sliding down her cheeks. She couldn't do this alone; she would need to have a more serious conversation with Steve when she got home because going the next at least 6 months of her life like this would be unbearable. Human beings need physical contact, though for this night she settled for the affectionate cuddles she got from Sadie, hot tears sliding down her cheeks all the while, sobs wracking her body as she attempted to contain herself._ _ _ _

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____A/N: Jalapeño pepper and peanut butter sandwiches are only the beginning of unusual pregnancy cravings and concoctions my friends. It can only get better from here. Sorry I know I've been on a long hiatus. I'm going to try to be working on this story more and more, I do occasionally post updates in my profile. I think my favorite part of this chapter is definitely the ways I describe Brayden and his creepiness. Things are going to start picking up soon._ _ _ _


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